Czech’s Winless After Two but Great Goaltending Displayed
Heading into the tournament the Czechoslovakian team was ranked 9th in the world. Their first matchup would be against the high flying German side that comes in ranked 4th after a great tournament last year. The game would be a tense low scoring affair that needed overtime to find a victor. Unfortunately for the Czechs they came up short despite leading for the vast majority of the game.
The third period goal for Germany came from Friedrich Müller assisted by Nikolaus Scholz and VLAD McZehrl. To be blunt this goal should not have happened. At 14:31 German’s Friedrich Müller ices the puck. Schnitinfritz Jagr managed to win the faceoff against Nikolaus Scholz but somehow Friedrich Müller ends up taking a shot 11 seconds later. The shot missed but Müller manages to get the loose puck and scored on the second attempt. An incredible individual effort by the German defenseman but the Czechs should not be giving up a goal only fourteen seconds after winning an offensive draw against a tired team who just iced the puck.
Overtime did not solve anything so it went to a shootout. Both goalies stood on their heads making the first three saves each. Eventually Patrick Brumm solved Christoffer Bjornsson and Czech Sachimo Zoidberg missed the net resulting in a win for Germany. Overall Christoffer Bjornsson was an absolute monster in this game taking first star honors making twenty four saves on twenty five shots plus stopping the first three shootout attempts. Unfortunately for him Germany’s Timo Haas was equally strong.
The Czech’s second game would be against Germany once more and was nothing like the first with a total of nine goals combined. Once again the Czechs were on the losing side. Bjornsson was nothing like his game one self but backup Georgette Pel came in and gave the Czechs a chance to win.
Bjornsson played only 21:55 minutes and was pulled after allowing four goals on eighteen shots for a weak .778 save percentage. Save percentage only tells one half the story, let’s see how those goals came about.
Germany’s first goal came at 9:40 in the first and was very similar to Friedrich Müller’s goal in the team’s first meeting. Czech Slappy McDoodle won a faceoff at 9:17 after German Nicolas and Patrick Brumm iced the puck on back to back plays. Despite the Czechs winning the draw Germany’s third line winger Eduard Selich managed to get a shot 21 seconds after the draw. The shot was deflected by center Nicolas Winter but it went wide. Selich jumped on the loose puck, reminiscent of Friedrich Müller, and scored at 9:40. Obviously the Czech’s have had problems containing Germany’s fast breaks and getting on loose pucks.
At 16:20 Schimo Zoidberg scored to tie it up but Nikolaus Scholz won the ensuing faceoff back to Klaus Wagner who hits VLAD McZehrl on a stretch pass. Making no mistake McZehrl scores to put Germany up 2-1. Again the Czechs are unable to contain the German breakout.
Two minutes later Germany is back on the offensive. At 18:41 Germany is a bit too quick and goes offside. Slappy McDoodle beats Germany’s Travis Kudleychuk on the draw but Kuddles commits and runs defenseman Kornel Kasparek into the ice to regain the puck. At 18:57 Kuddles takes the shot, which Bjornsson saves but the rebound goes to Friedrich Müller who scores at 18:59. A few seconds later the Czechs score and the 1st period ends with Germany holding a 3-2 lead.
The second period starts with a bang with both goalies making saves in the first minute. After Timo Haas eats a shot Nicholas Winter wins a defensive zone faceoff at 1:37. Then Eduard Selich goes to work. He breaks downt he wing and takes a shot, missing the net. He recovers the puck and launches another one but it is blocked by Barak Obrana. Somehow Eduard Selich finds the puck once more but misses the net again. Otto tries his luck but it is wide once more. Now at 1:55 Selich collects the puck and with his third shot in a 10 second span and this time does not miss. Otto and Winter get the assists. This is pitiful defense. Four shots went wide and another hit Obrana’s shins yet somehow the Czechs do not get a stick on the puck. Now after allowing four goals Bjornsson is pulled. I firmly believe this goal falls on the defense; Bjornsson cannot be relied on to follow the puck when Germany gets to take 5 shots in a 10 second span.
Georgette Pel plays great in relief stopping 18 of 19 shots for a brilliant .947 save percentage. The one shot that found its way to the back of the net was at 15:18 in the second period putting Germany up 5-3. The goal much like many in the series was the result of a German fast break. at 14:55 Schnitinfritz Jagr wins a faceoff in Germany’s zone against Nikolaus Scholz but the Czechs do not retain possession and Lord Pretty Flacko breaks out on what looks to be a three on two scoring with assists from Scholz and McZehrl. Czechoslovakia would score once more in the third to make it a 5-4 game but could not dig deep enough to tie the game.
If you’re a Czechoslovakian fan I think you should be optimistic with these results. Germany is a strong side and many view them as a favorite to win a medal. The Czechs played well against them and saw great goaltending from Bjornsson in game one. When Bjornsson faltered slightly in game two Pel came in and gave the Czechs some great goaltending. Though the Czech coach should look at third second line as Slappy McDoodle, Krystof Kowalski and Patrick Šatan were too slow. They were completely abused by Germany’s speed in the second match, each finishing with -2. Though on a more positive note Sachimo Zoidberg had a big come back game after missing the game losing shootout shot the night before.
MWHazard Wrote:i'll playwith anyone
playing with my teammates is part of the intangibles I bring to the table
i play with them a lot.
they didn't like it at first
but after a while, it just felt normal
Justice,Sep 18 2016, 02:09 PM Wrote:4-0 and 0-4 aren't that different tbh
McJesus - Today at 10:38 PM Wrote:FIRE EGGY
HIRE ARTY
JuniorHockey![[Image: xuHy0EF.png]](https://i.imgur.com/xuHy0EF.png)
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great read, can't wait to help the goalies out next year
![[Image: sharnaz.png]](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/831282703767830599/959659352124448778/sharnaz.png)
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